Mid-Year Budget Review: Ghana May Go Back To IMF – Minority Warns

The Minority in Parliament has warned that the country risks heading back to the IMF programme due to what it called bad economic management by government.

The comments follow the mid-year budget review and supplementary budget estimates where increment on petroleum products and communication service taxes were announced as well as the withdrawal of the taxes on luxury vehicles.

Addressing the press, Ranking Member on the Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson, said the policy measures introduced in the mid-year review statement indicates that the economy is in dire straits.

“Given the fiscal challenges confronting the country and the high level of public debt, it would not come as a surprise if Ghana seeks a ‘bailout’ from the IMF less than two years after exiting a similar programme that the current administration proudly touted as an achievement.”

“The Mid-year budget clearly showed that the public finances are in dire straits and the resort to additional tax measures is an indication of the troubling times that we are in.”

A former deputy Finance Minister, Fifi Kwetey believes that the announcements of tax increases in the government's 2019 mid-year budget review indicate more challenging times ahead for Ghanaians.

He said with the introduction of new taxes and increment in some existing ones, Ghanaians should expect more hardships.

Speaking on The Point of View on Citi TV on Monday, Fifi Kwetey said the proposed increase in fuel prices and the communication service tax are major developments that will cause a strain on the finances of Ghanaians.

“The hardship on them is going to increase. For example, a gallon of petrol is actually going to see almost 1 cedi in addition. That is massive and it is going to affect everything, not just transport; food is going to be affected. Much more hardship is going to come. In this day and age when you have hardships, Ghanaians take a lot of comfort in going on social media, laughing at jokes and all that and that one as well has now seen an increase in tax,” he said.

He added that, “I think generally, Ghanaians need to have a massive awakening that our friends have just danced around and today, the reality, they cannot handle.”

—citinewsroom